Treasurer: large tax settlement boosts Washington County general fund, county reports reserves rising

Washington County Treasurer Bobby Hill told the Quorum Court’s finance and budget committee on Tuesday that a large tax settlement pushed monthly revenues sharply higher, leaving the county’s general fund “in good shape for the time being.”

Hill said the county received nearly $11,000,000 in revenue in the month discussed, compared with just over $4,000,000 in expenditures. “So we began the month of 14,900,000.0, ended the month of 21.7,” he said, summarizing the effect on the county’s cash position. He said the county began the reporting period with roughly $89,100,000 in the bank and ended it with about $96,300,000.

The report also covered other funds: the road fund showed revenues of about $1,700,000 against expenditures near $1,500,000; the jail fund had roughly $1,800,000 in revenue and $1,900,000 in expenditures for the period. Hill characterized overall county finances as stable in the near term.

Hill highlighted year-over-year increases in property and sales tax receipts. He said property-tax payments for the month totaled about $7,900,000, roughly $500,000 higher than the same month last year, and that year-to-date comparisons for April and May were up about 9.5 percent. Sales-tax receipts of $978,000 represented a 6.12 percent increase for the year, he said. The quarter-cent jail tax produced about $1,500,000—7.5 percent over the same period last year.

A committee member asked Hill how satisfied he was with the report; Hill replied, “I’m loving it. Get back to me after budget, and we’ll talk—about how happy I am.” The treasurer answered routine procedural questions and then took no further questions.

The treasurer’s numbers will feed into the upcoming budget schedule the committee discussed later in the meeting.